Several Decades After 26 Exquisite Horrible Pages

Lisa's post today reminded me of Edward Gorey, which is extraordinary, because I'm sure I remember reading this book at the Jordan's house in Dhaka. Being over 40 means that things are starting to creep into my life that I haven't seen/done/read in, oh, 30 years or so. The Gashlycrumb Tinies is one such creepy. One of my favorite children's stories that must never actually be read to children.

I thought you could die of that, but was never sure.

Welcome to "Awesome Canadians Fridays"

In the years following high school, I saw Rush manymany times, including once where I made it to the Cap Center by walking backwards down the highway with a cardboard sign reading, "RUSH Concert." 2 college kids in a Mercedes picked me up.

1st in the new Canadian series. You're welcome.

Circa 1984, like you can't tell. These 3 honest-to-God hung the moon for me.

Apparently on this tour (they came through Austin last week), South Park has a cameo. Hilarity. Getty's outline can be seen wandering in front of the screen. Then the poor guy's camera mic implodes.

John Mayer is Way Smarter and Funnier Than His Music

Three things first:
1) JJ Johnson 's been playing drums with Eli's band since the mid-90s. I can't remember half the nights, staring with red-eyed disbelief at his stamina and innovation.
2) Mayer wrote a column for Esquire (Music Lessons) that was always fun to read. Why he stopped, I dunno.
3) I don't think all of John Mayer's songs suck. "Belief" is a bit of masterful.



Belief, from last year's "Crossroads"


An even more sublime acoustic version (not a vid):

Eat, Drink, and Be Murree

Beer Advocate pointed me to a mildly entertaining video on Murree beer, which triggered a limeflower-beer madeleine cascade of memories, throwing me back to high school, and Pakistan.

Indian subcontinent kids like us were limited to four K-12 schools for our parents to choose from (besides correspondence courses, which I actually took for half of 10^th grade). The main one was AES, New Delhi (moi, class of ’84); Kodai Kanal, near Madras, to the south; Woodstock, in northern India; and Murree, in northwest Pakistan. Senior year, I was elected student council president, and was expected to attend an annual international school conference with other government geeks.

I actually wasn’t a government geek; I gave a speech that was merely better performed than my opponent’s (who was far better qualified – and whom I dated years later on-and-off in the States – digress much?). Anyhouse, that year it was in Murree, Pakistan’s version of Kodai.

Not to get all Wikipedia on you, BUT, when Her Majesty’s Army wrested control of Punjab from the Sikhs (while failing to occupy Afghanistan), they were garrisoned in Rawalpindi. Murree, at 2300 m, was an oasis from the heat and crowds 50 km to the south. British soldiers were partially paid in beer rations (since the water could kill you). The Murree Brewery Co. Ltd. has been malting, brewing and distilling since 1860. From what I can glean from their awesomely Pakistani web site, they’re mostly bland-looking light lagers, with "a distinctive test and flavor... Murree's Classic Larger (is) Smooth on the plate… …corresponds in flour and quality to the famous beer brewed in Pilsen, Czech Republic.”

But one style sang out to me:
Murree's Millennium
Our flagship beer 8% alc. v/v. Brewed from highest grade Australian malt and Hallertau a German Hop products. The millennium is celebration brew for special occasion.

Eight percent volume by volume? That’s pretty high octane, for an Islamic beverage. Then again, they keep going, distilling their beers into vodkas, whiskeys, rums, and gins. With strict Sharia prohibition on consumption, and a ban on all imports of alcohol, what would be Murree Brewery’s chief competitor? If the word "prohibition" gave you a hint, you guessed it: bootlegged and black market tharra.

Photos: Spiegel Online

From this NY Times article:
“Alcohol was officially illegal but widely available in the years after independence, with doctors allowed to issue certificates asserting that their patients needed it for medical purposes. The 1979 prohibition is more strictly enforced, but it, too, is evaded. Many non-Muslims make a tidy profit by selling alcohol to their Muslim friends. It is sometimes said that the only people in Pakistan who do not know how to find liquor are foreign tourists. Murree has 350 full-time employees and another 125 or so who work part time. Some hide the truth about where they work. The American-trained quality-control manager, for example, tells friends that she works for a soft drink company.”

Which reminds me: what’s the difference between a Baptist, a Lutheran, and a Catholic? Catholics don’t recognize Saint Luther; Lutherans don’t recognize the Pope; Baptists don’t recognize each other in the liquor store.

Chances are, I’ll probably never return to Murree, which was as consistently beautiful as any Asian hill station. I won't get to drink the probably-not-delicious plate of floury larger with its distinctive test. Mais que recherche agreeable du temps perdu.

Murree, Pakistan

Laura's Movie - Its First Award So Far

Las Perdidas totally won a Remi Award at the WorldFest-Houston Independent International Film Festival. This is the event's web site (it sucks).

This is the link to the movie's site (sorry, Laura, I'm sure it was not your doing, but it also sucks [unlike your site, which is design-tastic], and is even broken in some places. I could do a better job with Notepad and a bellyful of mescal. Call me.)

Anyhowl, when she was in Austin last, I got a pre-screening from her laptop, and it's gangbusters - I think it's funny, inventive, taughtly-written, well-acted, with that early Linklater/Rodriguez indie feel. And if you have a little Spanish, it will be even funnier.

So, Lala yet again irrefutably rocks.

Lifting the Tax on the Sale of Indulgences

Oges is fond of saying that Bill Clinton was one of the greatest Republican presidents in US history. In his words,

"Clinton was the first president since WWII to leave the government with a balanced budget - usually the dream of 'fiscally conservative' Republicans (ironically, Reagan burst the bank and GWB is setting records for deficit spending). Also, similar to how LBJ was opposed to civil rights when he was a local politician in Texas but when it became the zeitgeist LBJ switched sides, when Clinton realized the Republican-dominated Congress was not interested in his more liberal measures - such as universal health care - he gave them everything the Congress wanted, mostly related to NAFTA and other "free trade" issues, which are basically gifts to large corporations and tend to hurt the average working folks Democrats traditionally represent."

The point I'm meandering toward is about today's article in the NY Times:

"Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton lined up with Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, in endorsing a plan to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for the summer travel season."

Not to poop on their pander party, but aren't we at capacity already? Wouldn't lower prices make people want to drive more? In turn, wouldn't driving more demand more gas, and hike the price?

Anyone who favors a political leader who trades votes for environmental degradation, fuel supply depletion, increased CO2 emissions, and fiscal irresponsibility (i.e. dipping into the Federal Highway Fund to pay for it) gets the government they deserve.

Now I'm not convinced yet that Obama has enough expertise or authority to quickly solve our energy problems, but at least he's not falling for this patronizing hoodwink. In the same article:

"At a meeting with voters in North Carolina on Monday, Mr. Obama said lifting the gas tax for three months would save the average consumer no more than $30, a figure confirmed by Congressional analysts. Mr. Obama has previously dismissed Mr. McCain’s proposal as a 'scheme.'

'Half a tank of gas,' Mr. Obama told his audience. 'That’s his big solution.'"

Hilary, please, just give up the ghost. You're starting to creep me out. As of today, I'd honest to God almost rather have Laura Bush as president. I said "almost," but please, somebody, make it stop; she burns, she burns.

April in Austin, Among Additional Ataxia

I have a new job.

Got stolen away from the energy savings company by a very small, very specialized, software shop. Here is the view from the previous offices:


Here is the new view (from the conference room):

Arial view directly above our building:


It's April in Austin, which means there are an incomprehensible number of festivals, events, open-air concerts, and/or kid's activites to attend...among them:
Old Settler's Music Festival
Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Fest
Urban Music Festival
Austin Fine Arts Fest
Reggae Fest (AKA Bob Marley Festival)
Annual Dragon Boat Festival and Race
Family Music Festival
Cinco de Mayo (gets started early 'round here, especially in San Antonio )
Eeyore's Birthday

Not convinced? Check this list out. It's exhausting, every year, just thinking about April in Austin.

Ultimately, we'll go to Reggae Fest and Eeyore's, as usual, and struggle with the rest.

The farmer's markets are overflowing, and the wildflowers are exploding. Life is tearing by on ball bearings. Don't ask how I managed to find time to post this: if I knew, I'd do it again, soon.

Eternal Sunshine of a Terrifying Mind

Comedienne extraordinaire Mandy Stadtmiller posted this thread, instigated by a copy edit of Tuesday's post. Check it.
When Chip ends with "Yours for total enlightenment (beer included)," he's referring to my email signature:
Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handy.
If you ever reach total enlightenment
while you're drinking a beer,
I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose.'

Reminding us, as Pope Alexander says on the side of the box, “What mighty emails rise from trivial things.”

Nietzsche, The Gay Science, 1887, pp. 42

Our Kids, And How To Educate Them

From the TED site: "Robinson's TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? 'Everyone should watch this.' " So I did.

"Creativity is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status." I discuss in my head (and slightly to one side). This, too.

Rise To The Challenge!

Listening To: Devotchka

Loved "Little Miss Sunshine," but didn't pay much attention to the soundtrack as it played. Alls I knows is I loves them, today. Right now, I'm queued into their first release, SuperMelodrama. Highlight: "Whiskey Breath." Saddest vocals on their MySpace player: the Philip Glassy "How It Ends."

In a bar in Lawrence Kansas, kid ye not. Trop exquis.

Pump and Play Thing to Change The World

From my new favorite site, "How to Change The World," by ex-Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki. His "Art of the Start" is majorly awesomespiring.

Know The World You Live?

Like most things awesome, I found this, the Traveller IQ Challenge, via Ze Frank. Absorptive fun for the travel geek in us all!

It is very fast! I don't know the capital of South Africa! No, it's not Johannesburg! (Bloemfontein? There are three? Are you freaking kidding me?)

Some New Music Fun Time

There's a new recording studio in town (new to me), called Nebulost, who's got a great intro price and an amazing setup. East side of Austin, out in the country.
Here's something I'm prepping for the 1st 5-hr. session: James McMurtry's Rachel's Song.

Keep you posted on how it goes. This stuff makes me crazy psyched.